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The newest tool coming to combat troops is low-tech: beards. In a report released yesterday, research think-tank Xegis Solutions noted that beards have a direct correlation to combat effectiveness.

Jonathon Burns was the lead researcher in the study.

“We took 100 soldiers. 25 were Special Forces qualified and had beards, 25 were Special Forces qualified without beards, 25 were regular Army allowed to grow beards for the study, and the last 25 were regular Army without beards. All 100 of these subjects were in direct combat in Afghanistan during the study.”

Image: Cursor.org

He continued, “Xegis Solutions had several teams of researchers embedded with these troops to make observations on their combat effectiveness. The results were overwhelming, out of the 50 soldiers with beards, zero were wounded or killed and they had a significantly higher accuracy of fire than the soldiers without beards. The soldiers lacking beards had a higher rate of weapons malfunctions and basically, shit went wrong most of the time.”

Crews sometimes see ground troops take casualties or come under attack. They zoom in on enemy dead to confirm casualties. Psychologically, they're in the middle…

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Matt in Oklahoma

Apparently it’s not the beards but the lack of shirts and sleeves!!! LOL

Richard

Proves being clean shave does make better US soldier than one wears bread. Than again enemy might not kill US soldier if dress like homeless man looks like them.

MSgt G. L. White

Back in the 80s when I was on the Army Staff, I tried to float this idea a number of times, permitting elite units to grow beards or bigger mustaches (field conditions permitting). I figured that allowing Field Artillery units to wear handlebar mustaches, for example, would increase esprit de corps and promote reenlistment.

Aside from deployments to zones with a high likelihood of needing gas masks, beards should never be a problem and, in fact, have a long tradition in the US military.

We always have allowed, unofficially, beards in certain intel and Special Ops assignments.

Better late than never.

Sampson

They screwed me up when they cut my hair,lost all my strength.Maybe God puts power into hair?